"The ongoing college admissions cheating scandal shows just how far some people are willing to go to get their kids into an elite university.
And with acceptance rates at top colleges and universities falling to record or near-record lows, high school students are facing increasing pressure when it comes to applying to the nation’s best schools.
Yale University, one of the schools named in the admissions scandal, saw its acceptance rate dip to 5.9% this year.
To illustrate how exclusive elite universities are these days, take a look at the eight Ivy League schools, among the most respected institutions of higher education in the world.
This year Harvard accepted 4.5% of its applicants. Yale, one of the schools implicated in the cheating scandal, accepted less than 6%." …
The other notable information in the article was the drop in yield…
“NACAC found that colleges’ yield rates – or the percentage of students who enroll after they are offered admission – have dropped from about 49% in 2002 to 33.7% in 2017.”
I wonder if that’s going to continue to drive up ED acceptance rates and drive down RD rates so school’s can have more predictability. It could also influence the use of waitlists.
Three things generally at work here IMHO, because it’s a tiny subset of the extant 2000+ colleges that seem to give everyone hives about whether their child will be accepted (and whether they will have adequate income and standing in the community to, I don’t know, survive, I guess).
the rankings according to USNWR seem to have started colleges gaming their system and increasing their numbers of applicants, the square footage of facilities, etc, to artificially rise in the rankings. Do those measures lead to real increases in quality of education? Hard to say. Northeastern is one school that did this, but many others also have done this. Namely: 1) GW; 2) Vanderbilt; 3) UChicago; and several others. https://www.bostonmagazine.com/news/2014/08/26/how-northeastern-gamed-the-college-rankings/
the economic downturn of 2008 made parents and students hyperventilate as it was made abundantly clear that the economic rug could be pulled out from under your feet at any time. Best start at the “best” college possible to ensure lifelong earnings.“Best” is defined by scarcity according to USNWR. See Number 1 above.
a large demographic shift of people desiring to move away from rural areas and into urban areas, or urban-accessible areas. Those colleges have also enjoyed a bump in earnings (yes, yes Hamilton fans. We know about Hamilton’s bump this year).
In fact 70% of colleges in the US do not fill each year. There are plenty of spaces at colleges if people were just looking for a good and even great education. Even affordable educations are available for lower-ranked students. But some colleges get “hot” and others “not” and it has little to do with actual quality of education and more IMHO to do with the factors I mentioned above.
Here are colleges that if quality + affordability were the primary concerns of more people, would be off-the-charts with the number of applicants–
University of Maine at Orono -- in-state matching tuition; beautiful campus; programs in theater and the arts; a top program in the country for marine bio and environmental studies; ABET-accredited engineering some with coops; international airport next door
Southwestern University near Austin -- excellent merit and other FA; near Austin; gorgeous historic campus; warm weather; an actual river running through it; excellent academics in LAC setting
U of Alabama Huntsville -- automatic scholarships; excellent STEM education
University of the Pacific -- gorgeous historic campus; reasonable tuition with excellent STEM programs, coop opportunities, one valley away from Silicon Valley
Agnes Scott
Hollins
Simmons -- consortium in Boston
Your Local Directional U
CalStates -- so many of them are super underrated and offer excellent programming for decent prices
Alfred University -- the only glass engineering program in the country; beautiful campus; the best ceramics program in the country
SUNY Nanotech -- the name speaks for itself.
CUNYs -- excellent education at affordable costs, IN NYC where your child can have internships and real jobs out teh whazoo.
I love Hamilton. But I really wonder if the super hip play has acted inadvertently as a branding bonanza for the school. In places and groups who may had not even heard of it? Maybe a crazy theory in my part.
But if true, Lin Manuel Miranda should have named the play Wesleyan after his alma mater. lol
@Dustyfeathers I couldn’t agree more with your post! There are hidden gems out there if people are willing to look beyond admit rates and into the real quality of a school. There are so many kids who feel that if the school admits lots of students, it can’t possibly be any good. What a waste.
@gallentjill that is 100% correct - I went through it with my kid! He got accepted to some well known schools with low admit rates. Unfortunately, they are not financially feasible. He did get acceptances with merit to other schools with higher admit rates. I sympathized with his disappointment, but then said get over it and really dig into the schools you can go to!
Our research has really paid off - these lesser known schools are terrific on many fronts. What is happening is a real shame - these kids can get wonderful educations at a variety of schools.
However, sometimes a state flagship will get a pass on that. For example, it is not hard to get admitted to University of Alabama, Arizona, or Mississippi, but they do not seem to be looked down on like non-flagship state universities or lower profile private schools that may actually be more difficult to get admitted to.
@privatebanker I’m sure the musical hasn’t hurt, but I also wouldn’t be surprised if the elevation of David Solomon to Chairman/CEO of Goldman Sachs has also played at least a little role in the most recent surge at Hamilton. He’s super involved (Trustee, co-chair of the current capital campaign, comes and gives talks on campus, etc.), so I would guess at least a few aspiring finance types have given the school a look because of that.
@thermom I was hoping Hamilton’s surge was because of the chair of the department of computer science and enginenering. He earned his undergrad at the University Massachusetts/Amherst. My alma mater. LOL!
@privatebanker Hamilton’s recent waiver of application fees for those that qualify for waivers and their recent partnership with Questbridge also may have helped boost their numbers. Still one can’t deny the draw of Hamilton the musical…